


Mirror of the Soul

by Oparu



Category: Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-15
Updated: 2010-06-15
Packaged: 2017-10-14 08:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oparu/pseuds/Oparu





	Mirror of the Soul

"Good morning Doctor. How are the repairs coming?" she asks. She always begins so politely. It's obvious in her face that she's impatient to get off Atlantis and back to her ship, but Captain Janeway is one of the more pleasant visitors I get. I point at the coffee on my desk and she pours herself a cup. She has this smile when she wraps her hands around the cup. I never seen anyone with that smile. There's a brightness to it that makes it a little easier to smile back.

"Atlantis will be working perfectly again in a few days," I answer, shrugging and letting her refill my cup. "I'm afraid we can't do as much for your ship."

"Of course not," she says, taking the chair across from me. She balances her cup on her knees, perfectly conserving the tiny amount of space she inhabits. John's teased me for the way I fidget; my legs are long and I end up with them folded in strange positions whenever I leave my chair. "Your city took a few blasts from those-"

"Wraith," I correct for her.

"Wraith," she says with a nod. "Not a very friendly bunch, I have to say." She takes a sip of her coffee and leans back in her chair. I've never seen her out of uniform, and the red and black fabric is always perfectly pressed. It's a little funny that we wear the same colours. We have a lot more than that in common. It might go all the way down to the isolation I've started to realise comes with this office. I can't go home to Earth any more than they can.

Voyager's as lost as Atlantis, but unlike us, they didn't even get the chance to say goodbye. They're trapped and cut off without a city to support them or the Athosians to lead the way. We had time to plan for this kind of isolation. We knew it might happen. I didn't make a choice that kept us all here.

She did and she made one again, coming to the aid of the puddlejumper, even though it was on the other side of a spatial rift and she didn't know what was on the other side, Janeway saved five of my people. It took all the puddlejumpers we could fly to tow Voyager in. When they stood up to the Wraith ship, something in their shield grid overloaded and getting Voyager down on one of the piers was like landing a wounded swan. The little ship that took them so far from home still has two broken wings and I can't tell her it'll fly any time soon.

Janeway knows that. Her crew has been entirely helpful and supportive, learning Atlantean technology as quickly as my own people did. We both have a great deal of wounded, and Carson and their holographic Doctor, truly a marvel of technology, are busy. Everyone's humming around on coffee and too little sleep.

Especially her. The first time I met her, her long auburn hair had fallen down onto her shoulders, dirt and ash were smeared across her face and a nasty cut above her left eye was nearly swollen shut. She looked at me like a queen, carried herself with the same regal bearing I've seen on a dozen diplomatic missions. I must have spent the whole next few days talking about her. John listened. He's a saint for that and a hundred other things he'd never believe me if I said aloud.

So we smile at each other, and we listen to each other. Atlantis is our responsibility and we'll keep it safe. It's not intimate, but it's as close as I've let myself get.

There's something similar between her and the commander. Chakotay follows her orders, supports her and I can get the feeling that he's her sounding board. He's a very charming man, someone who had no trouble at all getting to know my people.

She finishes her coffee and pours herself another cup. Her hands are so close to me that I can't help staring at them. How someone with so much power can have such delicate fingers amuses me, but there's little about her that doesn't do something to my heart.

If I didn't know better, I'd say I was infatuated. I don't have any right to be, I left Simon behind on Earth to see the galaxy, not to fall for a woman from another Earth.

"I'd like to ask you to have dinner with me," Janeway says, startling my eyes up from her Tuvok's report. He's especially efficient. Rodney can't even find fault with him and I think he's been trying. "The replicators just came back online and I have an old family recipe I think you'll like." She's smiling but there's an earnestness behind her words I can't turn down.

I nod, touched by the invitation. When I eat in the mess hall, I have responsibilities, even if they happen to simply be smiling or acknowledging the crew as they walk by. Janeway's quarters are a refuge, even if it's just for a night.

"I'd love to."

She beams, and there's a wicked hint to her smile. "Be there at eight."  


keep going? I think it would have three acts.


End file.
